The Necromancer
Jimin's expression on the other side of the phone screen did not look good.
"Oppa, what is it this time?"
"Sorry, sorry. That's just how it turned out. I'll pay this debt back later."
"No, is this even something you can pay back? Oppa, what about my school days? My youth?"
"Jimin, stop."
"But..."
"Jimin."
It was Father's voice.
Jimin eventually handed the phone over to him.
Father's face did not look particularly good either.
"Don't worry about us. Worry more about your own body. Summoners are vicious criminals."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind. You be careful too, Father."
"Alright, then focus on your work. Jimin will calm down once some time passes."
The short call ended there.
Father, Mother, and Jimin were currently on the move to a place even I did not know.
It was a situation similar to when that terrorist had attacked me before.
There was a chance the Summoner might take my family hostage, so they had to be evacuated.
GGC had prepared the place for them to hide.
"Don't worry. It's safe there."
"I'm not worried about safety. Since the Leader arranged it, I trust it. I'm just concerned that our family might end up being a burden..."
The place my family was heading to now was where the Leader's own family lived.
She had said it was less known and safer than the GGC Crew House.
Moreover, it was a place no one would think was connected to GGC.
That was why the person escorting my parents right now was not a GGC member, but someone the Leader employed separately.
Apparently only the Leader's family lived there, and I worried whether they would get along well.
If any trouble broke out, it could make things awkward between the Leader and me as well.
"It's fine. The place is enormous. There's no need to worry."
Enormous?
At this point, I was genuinely curious what kind of place the Leader's home even was.
Nothing came up on the internet, and whenever I asked her, she only said she would tell me later.
"For now, focus on the Shinyongsan Crew. The talks went well, but we still don't know how they'll act once we meet face to face."
We were on our way to the Shinyongsan Crew.
It was to wrap up the matters that had arisen from this incident and to make a new start.
"No matter how they act, everything will be safe as long as I'm here."
Elena.
Because of her magic, she currently looked just like Han Sarang, one of the GGC crew members.
She had black hair and black eyes.
She had come along as an escort, but since she could not wear a robe and pull up a hood for a negotiation meeting, she had taken on Han Sarang's appearance to accompany us.
"That's reassuring. I'm counting on you, Elena."
Having an S-class Keeper at my back was a huge help.
After all, I was about to meet the leader of the Shinyongsan Crew—the richest Keeper in Korea.
"Welcome."
Kim Mujin, leader of the Shinyongsan Crew, had a deep, resonant voice.
There was none of the frivolousness one might associate with the name "Ttanttani."
But just like that name, his body was rock-solid.
He was clad in muscle as if wearing armor.
His arms in particular were thick enough to enter an arm-wrestling competition.
Even though it had to be a specially tailored suit, the fabric looked ready to burst if he so much as moved his arms a little.
It was the physique of a man who wielded a hammer.
That did not mean he was a crafting Keeper, though.
He was a warrior who stood at the front lines with a hammer in hand.
"We are the ones who should thank you for readily accepting such a difficult proposal."
Leader Nari returned Kim Mujin's greeting.
It truly had been a difficult proposal.
After all, a sum on the order of ten billion won was changing hands.
"That much is nothing compared to how you preserved our dignity. And the friend behind you is our hero. Allow me to greet him properly. Thank you, truly."
Kim Mujin bowed at the waist toward me.
It was a little different from the Association President, who had expressed his gratitude with words and a handshake.
Unlike the Association President, who could only ever be a third party, Kim Mujin was a direct party to the incident, so of course he felt more grateful to me.
Without me, they might have lost Ttanttani, and the Keepers who had been there could all have died.
"I only did what needed to be done. More than me, it was thanks to the calm response of the Shinyongsan crew members that everyone stayed safe."
"...Do you truly think so?"
Kim Mujin straightened and asked me.
His bulging eyes seemed ready to bore straight through me.
The pressure was considerable, but I had nothing to feel guilty about.
I sincerely thought that way.
I had played the main role, but without the crew members I never would have been able to pull it off.
If things had gone wrong, Keira and I could have died too.
"Of course. If the chance arises, I would like to offer my own thanks to the Shinyongsan crew members as well."
"Hahaha."
It was a hearty laugh.
...Why was he suddenly laughing like that?
"Very well. I will be sure to convey those words to our crew."
"Thank you."
Kim Mujin's expression was not bad.
I did not know what it was, but he seemed to like me.
"The blue-haired friend did not come? I wanted to greet that one as well."
"That friend did not come. I will pass along your regards separately."
"A pity. I had hoped to meet and thank that friend in person..."
In this incident, Keira had played an even greater role than I had.
Anyone who knew the full story would judge it that way.
And Kim Mujin was someone who knew the full story.
He was the one who managed every CCTV camera on Shinyongsan Artisan Street.
He possessed far more footage than what had been released publicly, and in much clearer quality.
Naturally, that included the scenes of Keira raining down ice pillars.
The first thing Leader Nari had done once she grasped the situation was contact the Shinyongsan Crew and ask them not to release the footage.
If Keira's existence became known, it would not take long for people to discover she was an otherworlder.
That was an entirely different matter from me being known as a mage, so it was something that had to be revealed only after more time had passed.
"We will arrange a meeting next time. Since Shinyongsan has shown us such consideration, that much is more than possible."
"No need to call it consideration. When a benefactor asks, that much is easy."
Fortunately the Shinyongsan Crew had been cooperative, so we had been able to protect the information about Keira.
Because of that, there was nothing more we could extract from Shinyongsan for the help we had given this time.
In other words, the source of the video circulating among the public right now was not the Shinyongsan Crew.
Of course that attitude could be a mask and we could not know what was happening behind the scenes, but at least on the surface, the Shinyongsan Crew had not been the ones to spread the video.
"Greetings are finished, so let us move on to the next matter. I hear you plan to use a bait operation."
"Yes. The Association seems determined to catch the Summoner this time. So am I."
"From the crew's standpoint as well, the Summoner must be caught. If left alive, he will keep targeting Ttanttani."
The Association, which was hunting the Summoner.
Me, who was being hunted by the Summoner.
The Shinyongsan Crew, which never knew when the Summoner might come after them again.
Because the three parties' interests aligned, a somewhat difficult proposal had been able to pass.
"Then you will proceed as previously discussed?"
"Of course. We will entrust Ttanttani to Jungmin."
Ttanttani Mjolnir.
It was the item that had to be in hand if it was to serve as the ultimate bait.
The Shinyongsan Crew had decided to leave Ttanttani Mjolnir with me until the Summoner was caught.
Today we had come to receive it.
"...Are you nervous?"
"A little."
Only Leader Nari and I were in the waiting room.
Elena, still in Han Sarang's form, and Garam were waiting outside.
Why a waiting room?
Because the Shinyongsan side had said they wanted to record the handover of Ttanttani Mjolnir—no, let's just call it Mjolnir from now on—on video.
And as a major event involving the entire crew, no less.
"You'll have to get used to it. Looking at your abilities, Jungmin, things are only going to get louder from here on. Living quietly will be hard."
"You're right."
The moment it came out that Keira and Elena were otherworlders, the eyes of the entire world would focus on us.
I could not afford to get nervous over an event with fewer than a hundred people.
"You'll do fine, Jungmin. Just... do it the way you do with me..."
"Huh?"
"Ah, never mind. That was a slip of the tongue. Please forget it."
Leader Nari raised both hands and waved them left and right in front of her face.
Her face had turned red.
Cute.
Ever since she had become a Succubus, Leader Nari got aroused at the drop of a hat, and this seemed to be one of those moments.
In that case, there was no way I could just sit still.
"Mmm, haah, smooch."
I pulled her into my arms and showered her with kisses.
Nari noona accepted my tongue as if she had been waiting for it.
"Smooch, mmph."
Saliva mixed with saliva, and as we groped each other's asses, I wanted to move on to the next stage.
My lower half was already standing at full attention, and Nari noona was lifting one leg to rub her thigh against mine.
Knock knock.
Honestly, if not for that sound, I would have gone straight for it.
"Jungmin, it's time to go out."
Garam hyung's voice snapped me back to my senses.
Had hyung heard the sounds inside the room? If he had, that would be a bit awkward...
"...Garam hyung doesn't know, right?"
"What does it matter if he does? More importantly, has the tension eased a little?"
"...Huh?"
Come to think of it, my heart felt at ease before I knew it.
Had she done that on purpose?
"Go on out. We'll be watching from the back."
The faint smile on Nari noona's face looked so beautiful I could hardly stand it.
To support me so naturally like that—she was truly lovely.
Honestly, if it weren't for the event...
"...Alright."
When I stepped out of the waiting room, a Shinyongsan Crew staff member was waiting.
I followed the staff member toward the banquet hall.
"You may go in now."
The staff member opened the banquet hall doors.
A red carpet ran from the entrance all the way to the stage, and dozens of people stood on either side.
I walked slowly onto the red carpet.
There were a few familiar faces.
People who had fought alongside me that day.
When our eyes met, they gave small nods.
I climbed onto the stage and stood before Kim Mujin, who waited at the center.
"As you all know, three days ago a small disturbance occurred on this street. The one who quelled a disturbance that could easily have become a major incident is our friend standing here—Keeper Lee Jungmin!"
Kim Mujin pulled me over and stood me beside him.
"Today I intend to present our friend with a gift as a token of friendship. An item that our friend risked his life to protect, and that granted our friend new power—I intend to gift that item to him as a token."
He took Mjolnir from the staff member standing beside him.
The banquet hall fell silent.
It had been quiet before, but now not even a single breath could be heard.
It was the item that had been responsible for the tourists of Shinyongsan Artisan Street.
Its estimated value was ten billion, but it already possessed value far beyond that.
Everyone present had heard in advance that it would be handed over, yet seeing the moment with their own eyes seemed to make them tense.
In contrast, I felt completely at ease.
All that filled my head were thoughts of how I was going to thoroughly enjoy Nari noona later.
Today was supposed to be Keira's day, but I would ask for understanding and spend the night with the Leader.
"Here. This is the token we offer."
I received Mjolnir from Kim Mujin.
Mjolnir in my hand again was still light, and above all, it looked solid as ever—ttanttani.
Now I just had to recite the lines from the script.
"Thank you. I did not do this alone, so I am not sure I should accept this. Since I have received it as a token of friendship, allow me to offer a small token of my own friendship in return. Everyone."
I raised Mjolnir and pointed toward the doors.
The banquet hall doors opened, and the food that had been waiting outside was brought in.
Even so, the food was something GGC was sponsoring.
Leader Nari had spent a lot of money because of me, so tonight I would have to repay her with my body at the very least.
"Today is a joyous day, so let us all eat and drink together!"
When I lifted Mjolnir high, cheers and applause erupted through the banquet hall.
"Waaaaah!"
The final touch was an embrace.
I hugged Kim Mujin and put the period on the script.
If this was edited well, it would look as though GGC and Shinyongsan had formed a blood alliance.
That was not a bad story for either GGC or Shinyongsan.
Forming a close relationship with a mega-corporation among mega-corporations like Shinyongsan was pure profit for GGC.
We had even received Mjolnir.
Shinyongsan's image would improve from this as well.
I was the one who had protected Mjolnir, but freely handing Mjolnir over to me was an extremely romantic gesture, and people would go wild for it—that much was obvious.
Just looking at the expressions of the crew members who knew everything was scripted made that clear.
And that was not all Shinyongsan gained.
Through this event, Shinyongsan had forged a powerful connection with "me."
With me, the lover of otherworlders.
No one knew that yet, but from now on that fact would become far more important.
I would make sure of it.